Generalized Cross Section Model of Earth's Surface and Interior · Earth and Space Sciences Reference Tables (ESSRT)

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The Generalized Cross Section Model of Earth's Surface and Interior from the Reference Tables for Earth and Space Sciences (ESSRT) is a block diagram that connects features at Earth's surface, such as ridges, trenches and volcanoes, with the plates and layers beneath them. It primarily supports HS-ESS2-1.

What the cross section model shows

The block diagram shows three tectonic plates. At an ocean ridge, magma rises between Tectonic Plate 1 and Tectonic Plate 2; at a trench, Plate 2 sinks beneath Plate 3, where magma feeds volcanoes on the continent; and in the middle of Plate 2 a hotspot volcano sits beside a line of extinct volcanoes. Below the surface the model labels the lithosphere, the asthenosphere, the solid mantle and the molten outer core, which begins at a depth of 2900 km. The model is not drawn to scale.